Cambridge City Council Elections Tuesday

By Marie Y. ThibaultASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

This Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters will elect nine of the 18 candidates to the Cambridge City Council.

Among the more popular university-related topics the candidates address are continued plans for a wireless city, increased university involvement with public school education and affordable housing projects, and safer streets.

Two of the candidates, Jesse Gordon and Brian Murphy, have been endorsed by Matthew S. DeBergalis ’00. DeBergalis ran for Cambridge City Council in 2003 on a platform that put special emphasis on student issues, such as preserving night life and increasing late night food options.

All of the current councillors were re-elected in the 2003 elections, and all nine will be running in this year’s election as well.

See page 13 for more coverage.

Candidate

Town-Gown Topics

Lawrence Adkins

“Universities should share the same burdens as all residents and should be responsive to the actions of the City Council.”

James Condit

Did not respond to a request for information.

Henrietta Davis*

Universities help improve public school science education and work with Cambridge on housing development projects.

Wireless Cambridge.

Marjorie Decker*

Continue work with universities for affordable housing and open space.

Works to allow high schoolers on city committees, interested in youth empowerment programs.

Anthony Galluccio*

Was only councillor to support building of Simmons Hall because it would take pressure off the housing market.

Will work for safer streets and later buses and subway trains.

Proposing that MIT becomes more involved in Cambridge High School technology education program.

Jesse Gordon

Proposing to allow 17-year-olds and legal but unnaturalized immigrants to vote in municipal elections.

Proposing to allow university students to intern in city government.

Endorsed by Matthew S. DeBergalis ’00, who “thinks the city needs a kick in the pants and Jesse is the one to do the kicking.”

Andre Green

Proposing that more MIT students work in public schools and in Cambridge city government internships.

Supports wireless Cambridge.

Supports later weekend last calls in bars near universities and lower property taxes.

Robert Hall, Sr.

Will work to increase communication between universities and Cambridge government.

Bill Hees

Did not respond to repeated requests for information.

Craig Kelley

Neighborhood and resident needs should be taken into account when universities make proposals.

Robert LaTremouille

Universities are causing a lot of harm to the environment.

David Maher*

Did not respond to requests for information.

Brian Murphy*

MIT has always tried to be positively involved with public schools.

Influential in preserving Garment District. Endorsed by DeBergalis for this reason.

Committed to more late night dining, safer streets.

Kenneth E. Reeves*

Cambridge and universities need to make sure quality of public schools and science education improves.

Wireless Cambridge.

City-university relations are at the highest point of the last decade.

Sam Seidel

Will use universities’ resources to provide affordable housing.

Wireless Cambridge.

Universities attract talent and business, but are “difficult neighbors, and set their own agenda without coordinating wih the city on goals and objectives,” and take taxable land off the tax rolls.

Denise Simmons*

Universities should “support city services at a level more commensurate with their resources.”

Michael A. Sullivan*

Will improve safety in Cambridge for students.

Universities should help improve public schools, eliminate the achievement gap.

Tim Toomey*

Universities should not be regarded as non-profit organizations, but as profitable businesses instead.

Proposed a one percent tax on university endowments to reduce property taxes for renters and lower-income homeowners.

*Incumbents

Candidates weighed in on their plans for university-city relations and described issues they felt were important to university students.